ECSU soccer aiding Canterbury teen's recovery

Tyler Belfleur and Eastern soccer matched up through a non-profit organization out of Boston called Team IMPACT, which seeks to improve the quality of life of children with life-threatening illnesses and injuries by matching them with college athletic teams.

Tyler Belfleur stepped on the field at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex only for a brief moment Saturday, and he didn’t score a goal during the Eastern Connecticut State University men’s soccer team’s Goal-a-Thon to benefit the Be The Match National Marrow Donor Program.

Instead, Belfleur spent most of his time on the bench joking with Eastern players Chris Giustina and Carl Stensland.

The 16-year-old from Canterbury was happy to just be one of the guys, to be part of a team again. The Norwich Free Academy junior varsity soccer player was involved in an ATV accident on June 1, 2012 that left him with a severe brain injury and in a coma for a month.

Belfleur’s recovery has been nothing short of incredible. His mother, Danielle Laguerre, and father, Steve Ball, initially told were that Belfleur would be permanently confined to a wheelchair after he awoke from the coma. However, he graduated to a walker and then to two crutches, and now uses one crutch.

On Saturday, he walked onto the field on his own and was introduced along with Eastern’s players.

“We just met him for the first time, but he seems like a really great kid,” Eastern junior Mitch Power said. “I can’t wait to have him be a part of all the games, all the practices, and just really have him be a part of the team.”

Belfleur and Eastern soccer matched up through a non-profit organization out of Boston called Team IMPACT, which seeks to improve the quality of life of children with life-threatening illnesses and injuries by matching them with college athletic teams.

Power was one of six Eastern men’s soccer players on a leadership group that decided the Warriors wanted to get involved in the program. Eastern coach Greg DeVito and Power each made calls to Belfleur and invited him to be part of the team.

“Coming here was really exciting just to be around soccer again, because he was a really good soccer player,” Ball said of Belfleur. “Just these guys reaching out and what they’re doing makes me feel good (and) makes him feel good, which is wonderful.”

Ball said Belfleur had been “down in the dumps” lately because of the social isolation of his condition. Since leaving Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Belfleur has been mostly getting tutored at home, and usually only leaves home for physical therapy three times a week.

About a month and half ago, Belfleur started taking classes at NFA one day a week. This week, he is expected to ramp up his schedule to three days a week. The only complaint Belfleur has had is not seeing his friends.

“I’m looking forward to seeing my friends again because they all miss me and I miss them,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - The road to recovery has been a long one. Belfleur jumped on the back of friend Stephen Agotovech’s ATV on June 1 to play basketball, but the ATV crashed only about 100 yards from Bleeder’s home after it struck a utility pole. Neither rider was wearing a helmet, and Belfleur flipped over his friend and into the pole.

He was treated at Backus Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Hospital before awakening from his coma. Belfleur was then sent to Gaylord Hospital to begin rehabilitation. He started physical therapy in Dayville, and now is in Groton.

“It’s been really good because it is helping me so much,” Belfleur said on Saturday. “I wouldn’t be standing here right now if it wasn’t for therapy.”

He already is doing things doctors didn’t think he would ever do again.

“It’s been better than expected,” Laguerre said, “because they told me he was going to be in a wheelchair and that I would have to feed him. He beat the odds, and thank God for that.”

Belfleur wants to get back to playing his favorite sport again. He said one of the perks of being a part of the Warriors this season will be learning new skills from older, more experienced players that he hopes one day he can utilize.

“They seem like very cool kids,” Belfleur said. “They don’t seem boring at all. I feel like I can relate to them, hang out with them. They could be my normal friends.”

Power knows the important role Eastern could play in Belfleur’s recovery.

“I think it helps a lot, just that outside of his family there are people that care about him, because we are going to accept him as one of us, and he is going to be like a brother to us,” he said.

That includes receiving a team uniform, all the gear and attending practices and games with the team. On Saturday, Belfleur even spoke a little about possibly attending Eastern himself in a couple of years.

The partnership between Eastern, Team IMPACT and Belfleur has the junior even more excited about his recovery.

“It’s been easy,” Belfleur said about staying positive, “because I just keep reminding myself that I’m going to see my friends, I’m going to keep getting better and I’m going to play my sports again. I just keep dreaming.”